As we reported 2 weeks ago, BMW is making an electric version of their popular “Mini Cooper” car. Now more information is available about their lease program. They are keeping advertising of the program fairly low key so they don’t have to turn too many people away.

The lease is only available in at 8 dealerships in California, New York, and New Jersey. The car requires special technicians which are only located at this small number of locations. The lease will include all maintenance and parts.

Formal applications will be taken for a 3-4 week period starting mid November, and delivery of the car will be in January. The cost of the year long lease is still not determined, but expected to be in the $500-600 range.

BMW announced yesterday that they will indeed be releasing their new Mini E to the US market. They will be making 500 cars for a limited release by the end of 2008, then ramping up production after that. BMW has developed a special wallbox outlet charging system that the claim car fully charge the car in 2-3 hours rather than the 8+ hours of most EVs. The car can also charge from a normal outlet. The Mini E will have a beefed up weight of 3,230 lbs which is about 700 lbs more than the standard gas powered Mini. In order to accommodate the extra weight and space requirements, BMW has scrapped the 4 seater and made the Mini E a 2 seater.